Prom Shopping Experience – Dress? Check! Makeup? Check!

Last weekend’s Prom Shopping Tour was a success! The mother and daughter came to NYC hoping to find something unique that no one else in Boston would have. We started the tour watching the 2010 Prom Trends video so the teen could show me which dresses (styles and colors) she did and didn’t like. After explaining to me that she wanted something long and cream- colored with a low cut back, I decided we should start out downtown at the more unique boutiques (which would be either hit or miss) and then end up in midtown/the Upper East Side for some bigger department stores with more options.

First stop was Unpomela, where they had a limited selection but some really cool dresses. There was one in particular that the teen was going to try on but the price was just slightly above the average prom dress price.

We moved on next to a few of the sample sales where they had some great deals on a few gowns, but nothing that peaked her fancy. Over on West Broadway, we tried New York Look, Ariella and Max Azria. They had some cute short dresses (which is a huge prom trend this year) but not much of a selection for long gowns.

I knew it was time to head uptown to the stores where there would be gowns, gowns, and more gowns. On the way, we took a look at the Prom Hairstyles video. The teen really liked the side sweep hairdo with loose curls, which actually ended up to be the perfect style for the dress she chose.

Uptown, we started in the garment district where they have gowns galore. We came across a few that were similar to what she was looking for, but not the exact style and color that she wanted. We skipped over some of the accessories stores since we hadn’t found the dress yet and headed over to the huge BCBG flagship store on Fifth Avenue. They had some beautiful dresses on the second level, as usual, but nothing that quite fit. Same with Saks Fifth Avenue: beautiful gowns at reasonable prices but nothing exact.

Our last stop was Bloomingdale’s and it was a winner! There were several gowns in the color and style that she wanted but she also picked out a completely different color: a beaded aquamarine blue dress. It was really beautiful! In the dressing room, it came down to a cream-colored dress and the blue (both of which had very unique backs.) I gave my two cents and said she should get the blue since it was more youthful and fun. Cream is definitely something you can wear when you get older. Her mother agreed. Dress? Check!

We had a little extra time to shop for shoes after she bought the dress and decided that since the beading had some purple in it, that purple, metallic purple, or dull silver would work best. I was disappointed in Bloomingdale’s non-designer shoe selection though. $1500 for prom stilettos is a little steep… They decided they would just get shoes at home. (The teen said that she would be kicking them off early in the night anyway!)

We headed over to the MAC makeup counter where one of the makeup artists applied a beautiful blue and purple smokey eye for the teen. Mom watched very closely so she could recreate the look on the big night! Makeup? Check!